blending the mix

Steve Rubel reports on a ZDnet article which elaborates on a personalised ad delivery system for commercial radio!

By monitoring conditions at the outlets of the source (temperature and demographics are the two quoted conditions), the ads can be changed in accordance with the changes on the shop floor. They cite the example of Mcdonalds being able to change the type of ad they run, if for example, the temperature exceeds a certain point. Rather than run a burger ad, they might roll with a drinks one.

Cool (in every sense of the word!).

This seems to tie in with the advances they are making on audio search I posted a few weeks back where Google will/should/can (!!) be able to place targeted and relevant browser ads based on the background noise it can pick up.

With RF tags being put into store cards and on food packaging, maybe the Minority Report ad world is not too far away.

Is that a good thing?

Ask yourself this question. Even if an ad was relevant and targeted in a way you like, would you still welcome the interruption?

Maybe advertising is a joke. It’s all about………timing!

Tags: mcdonalds, dmarc, google

My Sony laptop is on the verge of packing in, after years and years of (ab)use it is at death’s door.

The CD drive does not allow me to burn back-up discs anymore and it is pot luck as to whether or not it will work from one day to the next.

So, I am offering a unique opportunity to sponsor ME.

Apple, Microsoft, Dell, or indeed any company willing to provide me with a half-decent laptop will have their name mentioned as part of my email signature.

In ALL communications in which I participate and which requires me to use the laptop (pretty much all the time!), I will apply the following signature text for a full 12 months (and I WILL provide weekly evidence of this):

Paul Fabretti

Director

Written on an Apple Macbook Pro by Company X.

Or

"Written using the latest Dell Precision M90"

or whatever suits the company providing it! You get the picture!

I may even think about something that sounds good too!

I am a minimum 3-times a day, 3-blog blogger with a (growing) average 800 unique visitors per month (ok, not a lot but growing all the time!). I am an active member of linked-in, openbc, ecademy as well as the pinkomarketing wiki and google group.

I am also an eBay (UK) Gold Power seller. A link to the company providing my laptop will also be included in ALL my eBay auctions.

Some will no doubt snigger at the visitor numbers (and advertisers may balk at the numbers!) but I am an extremely active member of the communities in which I mix, and present you with an opportunity to touch business professionals deeper than any banner ad would.

If this is of interest to you and you would be able to provide me with a laptop, I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Tags: ebay, Dell, Apple, Macbook Pro, laptop, pinko marketing

Technorati Tags: Google, Adsense, Adwords, eBay

The BBC reports that the Chinese government has blocked access to the main Google.com website and is actively targeteting those people who produce software that enable the avoidance of these restrictions.

Although the actual announcement comes as a shock, a Reporters without Borders spokesperson claims that:

“It was only to be expected that Google.com would be gradually sidelined after the censored version was launched in January”.

I still don’t understand how a company who is ruled by the words “do not evil” can willingly go against the very root of the internet - freedom of intformation.

Maybe they should now put their efforts into some anti-blocking software which will enable their Chinese users to see what the rest of the world is like.

Technorati Tags: Google.com

I have recently recieved confirmation from Yoah Bar-David, CEO of iRows, that Google has in fact NOT bought irows.

Google, as Steve Rubel reports, is building its own online spreadsheet software called Google Spreadsheets which is rumoured to have been designed by a former 2Web employee, John Rochelle). Stephane Rodriquez gives a good review of the implications of Google Spreadsheets suggesting he knows more than he is letting on! Bien ecrit Stephane!

As for iRows, it looks to be making great advances integrating into daily life (surely the most crucial part of any new app.?), with a salesforce.com version rolling out a few weeks ago and are, according to CEO Yoah, working closely with web-application companies to ensure proper integration of iRows with other online office suite application.

As Google is trying to be all things to all people, I sometimes wonder if it can be all of those things successfully all the time. Is it sufficient for the success of the product for people to assume, that because it is Google and it is free, that it will meet their needs?
Having used iRows I can (for the moment) say that it is the best online spreadsheet product on the market at the moment and with further dedication into its development, it will only improve and become more and more like the FULL Microsoft Excel it wants to be.

Can Google honestly say that once launched, they will continue to invest in and develop Google Spreadsheet to the same levels that iRows have/will?

Beware of strangers offering free gifts…

Technorati Tags: iRows, Google, irows, Google Spreadsheets, Microsoft, Excel

I received a simple but cryptic message last night confirming that Google has indeed bought iRows and will be making the announcement TODAY, 6th June 2006.

I seem to remember when Google bought writely, there was a heck of a lot of buzz surrounding what was going to be next in the online office suite and irows looked like the perfect target. Quite why this has taken such a long time to be announced is a surprise, but it was only a matter of time.

That said, with Microsoft’s new Office 2007 beta suite looking prettier than ever, I am beginning to wonder what, apart from online storage, will the impending Google Suite have to offer that Microsoft don’t?

Technorati Tags: Google, iRows, irows, Office 2007 beta, Microsoft

Keen to ensure that any IE7 Beta users (like myself) don’t feel the need to move over to “the dark side” I noticed this, the first tie I went to the google search home page: